A former employee, Mike Yu, pleaded guilty for the theft of roughly $50 Million in trade secrets.
The theft was the copy of nearly 4000 company documents (used an external drive to save). The documents were taken on the individual’s last shift and were not related to the position being preformed.
Documents were stolen in 2006. In 2009 the FBI found 41 of Fords designs were copied to Mr. Yu work computer (began working for Beijing Automotive Company in 2008). Based upon the information within the article, it is unclear if the documents stolen directly benefited Beijing Automotive Company.
Controls that should have been in place:
Access: Access to trade secretes should have been limited. Employees within different divisions of the company should not have had access to sensitive materials. Access should be set up on a need to know basis, with specific control in place to gain access. Additionally, access to network should have been removed in order to eliminate departing employees from removing sensitive information prior to their departure. This should have been done right at the time a resignation or termination notice was received in order to reduce the chance of a data breach.
Training and company culture development: Management should have focused on developing a corporate culture focusing on the protection of sensitive information. This could be implemented through corporate training and incorporated into the handbook in order to press upon the company the importance of data security.
The theft was the copy of nearly 4000 company documents (used an external drive to save). The documents were taken on the individual’s last shift and were not related to the position being preformed.
Documents were stolen in 2006. In 2009 the FBI found 41 of Fords designs were copied to Mr. Yu work computer (began working for Beijing Automotive Company in 2008). Based upon the information within the article, it is unclear if the documents stolen directly benefited Beijing Automotive Company.
Controls that should have been in place:
40/40